Social workers are e-ready

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Social care workers believe they've got IT skills enough for e-learning - even if their employers disagree, according to a survey for the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) by Ipsos Mori.

The survey of 2,000 social care organisations found that 66 per cent of such workers believe they have good ICT skills. Some 68 per cent have access to a computer a work, while 81 per cent have access to one at home.

But many social care employers think their employees lack the necessary IT knowledge or would be afraid or uninterested in e-learning, Allan Bowman, chair of the SCIE, said. "The research found that the belief staff couldn't 'cope' with e-learning was central to employers' hesitance to adopt it," he said. "We urge social care providers to have more faith in their workforce and encourage learning through creative and non-traditional methods."

Indeed, Bowman said social care is an ideal sector for e-learning, because it lets them learn at their own time. "People who work in social care often have demanding and unpredictable workloads and so, understandably, want to learn about good practice at a time and place that suits them," he said. "The use of ICT, including the web and e-learning, is an ideal way for social care workers and students to update their professional knowledge, learn interactively and improve their technology skills and confidence. Employers can also benefit from reduced training and operation costs and improved workforce effectiveness."

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